The NHL.com website has a story about the "Gordie Howe Hat Trick." It has no significance to US Olympic Hockey but the name HOWE sure does.
Mark Howe was a 16-year-old high school junior when he joined the 1972 US Olympic Hockey team three weeks before the Games in Sapporo began. It's not unheard of for teenagers to participate in the Olympics but...for Olympic hockey, then and especially now, it is an anomaly. Today, it would be unheard of to have a 16-year-old on the ice in the Olympic hockey competition.
Howe was described by his teammates as a boy inside a man's body at 16. He held his own, contributed and ended up with a silver medal around his neck when he returned home.
As we know, he later went on to an All-Star NHL career.
Mark Howe was a 16-year-old high school junior when he joined the 1972 US Olympic Hockey team three weeks before the Games in Sapporo began. It's not unheard of for teenagers to participate in the Olympics but...for Olympic hockey, then and especially now, it is an anomaly. Today, it would be unheard of to have a 16-year-old on the ice in the Olympic hockey competition.
Howe was described by his teammates as a boy inside a man's body at 16. He held his own, contributed and ended up with a silver medal around his neck when he returned home.
As we know, he later went on to an All-Star NHL career.